351w

It has to breathe. Finding a Lightning lower is not as easy as finding an Explorer intake, but having it ported should make a torquey engine with a fun power band.
What heads are on the 351? Like the 302, an upgrade there will help air flow a lot.
 
It depends on what you would have to pay for all the work on the 351 stock heads,you could spend the same or maybe less on new alum. Heads.
Skip white has NKB heads for sbfords at a reasonable price and it's all new quality parts.
Those heads with a decent intake will easily get you to your goals.
 
Cheapest easiest route is to port the exhaust ports on the 351 heads. Ifyou want to have a hood you can see around you'll need to go carbureted. The biggest issue is the truck intake. If swapping to carbed you'll need a vacuum advanced distributor with the correct gear for a roller camshaft. Call comp cams or Ed Curtis for a custom cam to get you where you want. That will come with the need for heavier springs and possibly roller rockers. You'll need an 80s crown victoria oil pan. There are differences with the flywheel / flex plate balance and tooth count. This is important because of the starter and clutch or torque converter. You'll need swap headers for the exhaust manifolds.

It's like they say, you can have fast, cheap, or reliable. You can have 2 but not all 3.
 
What are the casting numbers on the heads? The best production 351 head is the D0OE head, and the GT40 head was somewhat based on that with a further improvement in the 40P head.

My understanding is that the 90s 351s came with a version of the E7TE on them. If so, I wouldn’t put a dime into those heads and instead find some non-P GT40s at least.